Friday releases worth it for Falcon and the Winter Soldier

Sebastian Stan and Anthony Mackie speaking at the 2019 San Diego Comic Con for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, at the San Diego Convention Center – Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons

 The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is action, teamwork, and violence. In other words, it is pure Marvel. 

     Premiering March 19, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier takes place just six months after half of the world returned from The Blip in Avengers: Endgame.

     We follow Bucky Barnes (The Winter Soldier) and Sam Wilson (Falcon) as they fight those who get in their way in pursuit of stopping a terrorist organization. Not only do they fight others, but the tension between the two characters can make the show quite funny.

     Along with Sam (Anthony Mackie) and Bucky (Sebastian Stan), we meet a new character named John Walker, who has taken the mantle of Captain America after Steve Rogers’ death in Avengers: Endgame. While the character is not particularly lovable, the actor who plays him, Wyatt Russell, does a phenomenal job. There are subtle things that he does to personify his character, but when it all comes together, his acting is believable.

     Before I began watching The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, I decided to rewatch Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War, two movies that give a lot of screen time to both Bucky and Sam. I wanted to remember what the characters were like before jumping in, and Disney+ has stayed true to the characters from the previous movies. Aside from the characters, the fighting scenes are just as good as those in the previous movies. 

     Contrasting the mystery and the confusion that surrounded WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is straightforward. It gives more screen time to Marvel characters that we all love. Similar to WandaVision, and most likely other Marvel TV shows coming soon, episodes of this show are only made available for people to watch once a week, with a new episode appearing every Friday. 

     While I was skeptical about this method of release with The Mandolorian and almost stopped watching WandaVision because of it, I have grown to appreciate these Friday releases. Not only does it let my anticipation grow, but it gives me more time to think about the episode as well.

The biggest issue with not only The Falcon and the Winter Soldier but WandaVision is that non-Marvel fans can’t just jump into these shows.

The biggest issue with not only The Falcon and the Winter Soldier but WandaVision is that non-Marvel fans can’t just jump into these shows. If you haven’t seen all or most of the marvel movies that tie into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, then you will be completely lost when it comes to this storyline. That being said, I do not think that Marvel should make these shows more first-time viewer-friendly because then the shows might not focus on the more important things. Still, I feel for those who would like to watch The Falcon and the Winter Soldier but haven’t seen the 20 or so films that comprise the MCU. 

If you like Marvel, you will love this show. If you have never seen a Marvel production, this is not the way to try it. Only four of the six episodes of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier have been released as of this writing, but I have no doubt that the final episodes will close this excellent series nicely and put a stamp on another one of Marvel’s impressive creations.

Author: Connor Pinsk '23

Managing Editor Connor Pinsk joined The Index in the fall of 2019. He previously served as Neighborhood Editor.